Random musings from a "rabid" reader. The title comes from my admiration of John Updike and his Rabbit Angstrom series.When I read a review of a book I have not read, I only read enough to get a general idea of the content. If it sounds interesting, I make a note of the review, read the book, and only then do I go back and read the review completely. I intend these short musings to convey that spirit and idea to the readers of "RabbitReader."
--Chiron

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Unexplained Fevers by Jeannine Hall Gailey

A common exercise in a creative
writing class has students take a fairy tale and re-write it in poetic
form.The exercise is challenging, but I
thoroughly enjoyable.Jeanine Hall
Gailey’s third book of poetry, Unexplained
Fevers, helps the heroes and heroines step out of the towers and oppressive
households.She uses these poems as
allegories for the problems facing many people today.Gailey is the Poet laureate of Redmond, Washington.I was pleased to discover this collection is
a serious read.

As we all know, the original
Grimm’s Fairy Tales were rather dark, but they all had deep symbolic meaning. Here is a sample of Gailey’s work: “I Like the
Quiet: Rapunzel”:“Solitude my solace, wrapped
around me

like layers of golden hair.Stacks of books

and I can sing as loud as I please all day and night.

I sleep I kick and snore, during the day, delight

in eating nothing but
radishes and lime leaf tea.

Who says I need a partner to dance?Here

in this tower I am mistress of all; the
reindeer,

the knight’s armor teetering in the corner,

various discarded
disguises, crowns,

crumbs and bones. Will you rescue me?

What kingdom will
replace my bounty

of leisure, what tether of care and nurture

do you wish
to rope my neck with?” (12).

Another poem, “Advice Left
Between the Pages of Grimm’s Fairy Tales,” ties a few fairy tales together:

“Life is not a fairy tale,
and this isn’t your pumpkin coach.

You’re not lost in some magic wood,

and
that blood on your hands isn’t from an innocent stag

at all.Princess, remember to fill your pockets

with more than bread crumbs, and

if you can’t sleep don’t blame the legumes

beneath the sheets.One look at that
glass coffin

they’ve set up for you should tell you

everything you need to
know about their intentions.

Remember a lot of girls end up dismembered, and

every briar rose has its thorn. / Forget the sword and magic stone,

forget
the enchantment and focus on the profit margin,

the hard line.Read the subtext” (60).

The final poem in the
collection, “At the End,” reminds the reader of the darker side of fairy tales:

“At the end of our story, we
roll along

with the prince’s procession,

or wake up to a castle filled with
friends,

their eyes, too, puckering at the light.

It never occurs to us to
flee our fates.

After all, we cannot sleep forever,

it’s not our role; we
merely rest until we’re touched –

or jostled – awake by the right man or
moment.How can we lament what we’ve missed,

asleep in glass coffins and
briar-thorn prisons?

We’ve noticed no change, not the way

the citizens seem
to glare at us as we pass

or the price of apples. The guns men carry

now
under their coats.Even the carts

seem
sleeker, prepared to bustle us into the future" ... (68)

These poems grab our memories
of childhood tales and bring us into the reality of life today.You will find yourself going back over these
pieces again, and again.5 stars